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"Likewise be all manner of beasts, when they be brought into the field and cried havoc, then every man to take his part,..Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war.."

The Obama campaign is out with a tough statement on Rick Perry's campaign launch, accusing the Texas governor of telling a "tall tale" about his record on job growth and economic expansion, and previewing a line of attack on Perry's close relationships with Texas special interests:

“Governor Perry’s economic policies are a carbon copy of the economic policies of Washington Republicans. He pledged to support the cut cap and balance plan that would preserve subsidies for oil and gas companies and tax cuts for the wealthiest while ending Medicare as we know it, eroding Social Security, eliminating hundreds of thousands of jobs and erasing investments in education and research and development.

That’s the same approach he took in Texas, where middle class families know his economic record is no miracle – it’s a tall tale. Governor Perry allowed special interests to write their own rules, hired corporate lobbyists to oversee corporations, and cut funding for programs that would create opportunity for middle class families.

In a Republican field that has already pledged allegiance to the Tea Party and failed to present any plan that will benefit the middle class or create the jobs America needs to win the future, Governor Perry offers more of the same.”

What would liberals do without gaps to close? I think they’d pretty much have to go out of business. You’ve your education gap. You’ve got your power gap. You’ve got your jail gap. You’ve got your income gap, perhaps the granddaddy of them all.

This week Senators Mary Landrieu and Patty Murray took to the pages of the Wall Street Journal to introduce us to yet another gap: “The skills gap.” I know when I want to understand issues related to productive employment, Landrieu and Murray are among the first people who spring to mind, and they don’t disappoint.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Landrieu and Murray explain, we have approximately three million job openings, all waiting to be filled. With so many Americans out of work, what’s the problem? I know what you’re thinking. It’s not Obama or his policies! Of course not.

No, the problem is a gap. Landrieu and Murray explain: “There is a widening ‘skill gap’ that prevents many Americans from filling the jobs of the 21st century economy. If we want to get our economy back on track and get workers back on the job, we will have to address this issue in a better way.”